Health advocates are happy about this week’s USDA refusal to allow Yum! Brands restaurants to accept food stamps (technically known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP) in four eastern U.S. states, and I agree with them. Nutritionally speaking, fast-food such as that sold by KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell is not the […]
Recommended Bite: The Brown Hotel’s Hot Brown — yes, really, I’m serious
I don’t like the “Man vs. Food” show. I mean, really, in a country suffering from a swelling obesity problem, must we watch an already heavy Adam Richman stuff his gob with absurd portions of fatty, cheesy, salty and spicy food? Yes, when the reason is good enough. And that excuse arrived this past summer […]
What will KFC’s new marketing chief do that his predecessors haven’t?
KFC announced today that chief marketing officer Barry Westrum is done pimping the world’s largest chicken chain after just 10 months in the coop. According to the company, Westrum left “to pursue broader innovation opportunities,” which is the most convoluted phrase I’ve ever heard to describe someone getting his walking papers. I guess the innovative […]
Despite my love for indie eateries, a Gordon Biersch downtown is a good idea
I’m a huge fan of local restaurants and patronize them about 99 percent of the time I eat out. But as a pragmatic businessman, I’m not at all disappointed by the news — broken by Insider Louisville’s Terry Boyd — that Gordon Biersch will set up a brewery and restaurant in the Fourth Street Live […]
The discovery tale of the Colonel’s cookbook is finger-lickin’ questionable
Is it just me or does this story seem a bit questionable? In an Associated Press story on the Washington Post’s website, KFC claims that Amy Sherwood, Yum! Brands’ vice president of public relations, recently discovered a cookbook manuscript written by Colonel Harland Sanders — nearly 50 years ago — among stacks of old documents […]
Papa John’s scores big Q3 with help of NFL sponsorship
By STEVE COOMES | Published: NOVEMBER 2, 2011
Papa John’s Pizza’s far better than expected third quarter for 2011 is leaving some analysts surprised and smiling.
In his Nov. 2 report, Mark Kalinowski of Janney Capital Investment pointed to the world’s third largest pizza chain’s “better-than-expected same-store sales” and “a lower-than-expected tax rate” as combining to raise Papa John’s quarterly profit and forecasted earnings per share slightly higher for the year.
For Q3, Papa John’s logged an impressive 5.3 percent increase in North American same-store sales — a full 3.1 percent above consensus estimates.
(My input, not Kalinowski’s: I don’t expect Pizza Hut to produce results anywhere near this in Q3, though industry watchers expect big things from Domino’s Pizza, as it rolls out its new line of Artisan pizzas.)
Such strong momentum for the period is highly encouraging for the chain as it heads into Q4: its busiest season traditionally, and now with the tailwind of its NFL sponsorship.
“It looks as if the brand’s positioning as the official pizza sponsor of the NFL is helping Papa John’s generate enviable same-store sales growth,” Kalinowski wrote in his brief.
Kalinowski is not the only one inspired by that performance. The chain itself raised its EPS target range for 2011 to $2.08 to $2.15 from $2.02 to $2.12. Janney raised its full-year estimated EPS by 8 cents and its Q4 projection 4 cents. Read more by clicking here.
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